Wednesday October 23, 2024
CNHI News —
Westervelt Ecological Services (WES) has received federal approval of the Zacharias Ranch Mitigation Bank (Zacharias Ranch) in southern Sacramento County. The 580-acre bank will restore riparian and freshwater tidal marsh habitat along Snodgrass Slough in the Sacramento San-Joaquin Delta. Zacharias Ranch received approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Services. Credits from this bank will also assist in meeting mitigation requirements established by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Compensatory mitigation credits from this bank will cover aquatic resources and dependent species, such as Chinook salmon. Restoration within the bank focuses on re-establishing connectivity between Snodgrass Slough and will contribute to the overall restoration of tidal marsh in the greater Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Region. The restoration and preservation of Zacharias Ranch will contribute to regional ecological restoration targets while also serving as mitigation for a variety of critical infrastructure and regional development projects.
Zacharias Ranch will be protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement and funded by an endowment to support long-term management activities. WES has partnered with Sacramento Valley Conservancy to hold the conservation easement. Credits for the project will be released once the conservation easement is in place, which is expected to occur in winter 2024.